Congressional Review Act resolution passes Senate 52-47

Wednesday, May 16, 2018

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Bob Menendez applauded Senate passage today of a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to restore net neutrality and ensure a free and open internet. The Senator joined all 49 Senate Democrats and three Republicans in voting to put strong net neutrality rules back on the books after the Trump Federal Communications Commission (FCC) repealed Obama-era rules that prohibited internet service providers from blocking, slowing down, or discriminating against content online.

“Today, I voted to restore the net neutrality rules that President Trump and his Republican-led FCC recently repealed. This is a great victory for the little guy—small businesses, consumers, and working families—putting their interests above that of big corporations who seek to control how we share, use and transmit information over the internet,” said Sen. Menendez. “The internet of the future must be as free and open as it was in the past. That openness is what enabled digital technology to transform our lives—from how we watch our favorite shows, to how we shop, to how activists organize online. We can’t have special interests picking winners and losers when it comes to the information and content delivered to Americans online. The internet must always be free and open to anyone with a new service, a great idea or a powerful message to share with the world.”

The resolution will now go to the House of Representatives for final passage. Congress has until June 12 to act before the FCC’s new rules go into effect. Repealing the net neutrality rules could lead to higher prices for consumers, slower internet traffic, and even blocked websites. A recent poll showed that 86 percent of Americans do not approve of the FCC action to repeal net neutrality rules, including 82 percent of Republicans.